How The Rock Reclaimed His Action Star Glory

The Furious 7 co-star hasn't always had it easy, but he's finally on top.

It speaks to the likeability and gravitational draw of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson that it can be easy to forget that he was once something of a disappointment as a movie star.

That would have seemed unbelievable when the buoyant, wise-cracking, eyebrow-lifting wrestler climbed out of the WWE and onto the movie screen for The Mummy Returns. With the momentum of that movie, and his People's Champion popularity, Johnson's career was nothing but uncut potential. He was greeted with such enthusiastic anticipation that he could be the long-awaited heir to Arnold Schwarzenegger, that even Ahnuld himself symbolically passed the torch in The Rundown, in which he tells Johnson: "Have fun."

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For a moment, Johnson carried that torch. With TheMummy spin-off, The Scorpion King, we saw The Rock embrace Conan the Barbarian-like cheese, and position himself more solidly as the return to the 1980s action heroes we missed: wink-wink one-liners, invulnerable badassery, and muscular (shirtless) hard bodies. But then Johnson took that torch and used it to burn the Commando, Predator, and Terminator chapters of the Schwarzenegger Playbook and go straight for the Kindergarten Cop chapters.

Between 2002 and 2011, Johnson diverted into goofy kids movies (The Game Plan, Race to Witch Mountain, Tooth Fairy) and smaller not-good-enough action flicks. They were all projects that felt too small for someone as big, in physique and presence, as The Rock. And while he remains always enjoyable and charming, that decade of underwhelming films couldn't help but mark his career with disappointment. That was reflected in the box office, too. The Rundown, Walking Tall, Doom, Gridiron Gang, and Faster didn't even crack $50 million at the box office. His only $100 million-plus hits were Get Smart and The Other Guys, in which he had supporting roles that traded on humorously subverting a badass action hero image he, frankly, had never truly realized.

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Then, suddenly, The Rock's career turned around in 2011. He joined the Fast and Furious franchise and began to enjoy a string of box office successes—over $100 million for Journey 2 and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, over $200 million for the fifth and sixth Fast and Furious movies, and what looks to be a big payday for this weekend's Furious 7. Now, you might attribute his long-coming success to his recommitment to proper, big-scale action films or his shrewd joining of in-progress franchises he could boost with his notable charisma. Those are factors, sure, but I think the truth lies in a more crucial decision: The Rock started making ensemble movies.

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Besides being oases in a decade-long drought, there was something else that distinguished Get Smart and The Other Guys in the scope of Johnson's career until that point. It wasn't just that he was playing a more supporting role in a larger ensemble of prominent actors. He shines more brightly in those films than any he had in a while, often stealing the show. More importantly, he also seems relaxed, as if a pressure has been lifted, and he's enjoying doing exactly what he knows he can do best: cocky swagger, action hero confidence, amusing self-awareness.

It may be that that sparked an epiphany for The Rock. Because sure enough, with Fast Five it seemed like he threw out the Schwarzenegger Playbook he had been dutifully following. He pulled back from movies that focused solely on him and rested on his shoulders, and instead joined movies in which he could be a team player. Whether it was Fast Five, Journey 2, or G.I. Joe: Retaliation, he started to embed himself in larger groups of characters and actors. And almost always movies about teams. Even Hercules, in which he is leading man, nonetheless finds him anchored to his fellow warriors.

The result of Johnson's shift into ensembles has been that he is thriving. No longer the nucleus, he prospers in providing powerfully concentrated bursts. After all, the reason he's so good in the Fast and Furious franchise is because he's allowed to do only the good stuff: fistfights, shootouts, trash-talking. He shows up when the movie desires his charisma, brawn, and punches. And he delivers it in thrilling sprints, not ponderous marathons. The freedom granted him by shared ensemble responsibility results in The Rock being able to focus on doing what he does best: go full Commando.

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It's not that The Rock can't carry a film on his own. It's that he seems to have become aware that he and his film do better when he doesn't. And he's right. After all, he's now not only enjoying unprecedented success at the box office, but he's succeeded in realizing the action movie star potential he exhibited over a decade ago. It's no accident that that all happened after he started embracing ensemble films.

With that in mind, it seems like it may not be an accident that Johnson made an unconventional Hercules. In Brett Ratner's film, The Rock plays a version of Hercules that is believed to be a bigger-than-life legend, but is actually decidedly human. His legend is derived from embellishments of successes that were accomplished largely with the support of a loyal team of mercenary warriors whom he considers his equals. Hercules can only excel at what he does—and win the day—in Hercules when he has the support and skills of those around him. You couldn't ask for a better distillation of how Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson realized his own action potential by working with others to help elevate him to the action movie greatness he was destined for and deserved.

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